"Burning_Ranger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:Richard Goodman said:always felt safer in inner city traffic than on country lanes!
(!)
I live in London. It's dangerous enough as a pedestrian trying to cross
the
Quoted message said:road due to stupid and lazy drivers (e.g. don't indicate when turning) but
in a bike you'd need nerves of some sort of strong metal to ride regularly
there. Only last month, I saw some guy in a road bike get hit when a
moronic
Quoted message said:driver didn't look as he was getting out of his car. The guy didn't seem
to
Quoted message said:badly hurt but his bike was completely trashed.
So you would take one incident and use that to draw general conclusions on a
matter in which you clearly, from another posting, have little experience.
Yes, accidents do happen, but remember:
- in inner London's heavy traffic speeds, are generally low
- the relative difference in speed between bikes and cars is also generally
small
- traffic is often forced to travel at a speed which means it can stop
within the distance it can see to be clear ahead.
- the above factors mean it is generally not so difficult to negotiate your
way with other traffic, and in the event of any accident, there is at least
some chance it will be survivable.
- good roadcraft minimises the risk of accident. 'Accidents' are often not
simply the result of random chance, and to a large extent - possibly larger
than on the open road - are within your power to prevent.
Country lanes, on the other hand, may seem to be quiet - until you encounter
motor traffic travelling at or above the national speed limit along roads
which are barely wide enough for two cars to pass in opposite directions,
around bends with sight lines obscured by hedges, traffic pulling at speed
out of intersections with similarly restricted sight lines having only
checked for motor-vehicle sized conflicting traffic etc.
As others have said, buy the Highway Code and Cyclecraft. The only thing to
be aware of is that in London the Highway Code is modified slightly: for
motor traffic, green means 'go', orange means 'go', red means 'go as long as
the car in front is still going'; for cyclists green means 'go with
caution', orange means 'go with caution', and red means 'treat as a give-way
sign and go when the way is clear'; for peds green, orange and red all mean
'cross - so long as the motor traffic is stuck in a queue, and don't bother
looking out for cyclists who aren't stuck because they have to look out for
you' 😉.
Rich
